Abstract: Anger may have evolved to orchestrate social bargaining behaviors, which ultimately can lead to establishment of dominance hierarchies. Although the relationship between anger and dominance has strong empirical support, most studies have focused on visual cues of dominance. Across two experiments, we tested the hypothesis that anger increases dominance-seeking and agonistic behaviors in those who feel it. In the first experiment (n = 82), we induced anger through a hostile mock debate and measured corrugator electromyographic activity, testosterone and cortisol levels, status-seeking tendency, and aggression using behavioral tasks. Compared with the control group, the anger group showed higher levels of aggression and status seeking, with the moderator effect of anger intensity. In the second experiment (n = 162), anger, fear, sadness, and neutral state were induced by film clips, after which dominance-related behavioral tendencies were assessed. The anger group showed higher dominance scores, differing significantly from the fear, sadness, and/or control groups. These findings reinforce the notion that feelings of anger can cause an increase in status-seeking and agonistic behaviors, leading to possible action tendencies for the establishment of dominance hierarchies.

Highlights• Trait-Anger and Neuroticism are substantially inter-correlated positively.• Trait-Anger is positively related to subjectively assessed intelligence (SAI).• Neuroticism is negatively related to SAI.• Neuroticism suppresses the association of anger and SAI.• The effects hold even after controlling for objective intelligence.

Abstract: Trait-Anger and Neuroticism are substantially inter-correlated positively. However, there is some theoretical and empirical research that supports the notion that Trait-Anger and Neuroticism are influenced by several processes differentially. For instance, Trait-Anger is linked to optimistic bias, increased sense of control, approach motivation and high Narcissism. In contrast, Neuroticism correlates with pessimism, low sense of control, withdrawal motivation and low Narcissism. Building on these previous findings, we hypothesized that Trait-Anger and Neuroticism would be positively and negatively, respectively, associated with subjectively assessed intelligence (SAI). Furthermore, we expected that these two traits would act as mutual suppressors in predicting SAI. The results of two studies (ns = 303 and 225) supported our hypotheses. Trait-Anger was positively and Neuroticism negatively related to SAI, even after controlling for objective intelligence. These results are consistent with previous research which suggests that SAI is more substantially associated with personality than objective intelligence. Additionally, in study 2, we found that Narcissism mediated (partially) the relationship between Trait-Anger and SAI. In the discussion, we suggest that there might be two faces of Trait-Anger: one related to anxiety and one to overconfidence. Finally, a potential role of intelligence positive illusions in Trait-Anger is proposed.

Abstract: Formal training programs, which can be called education, enhance cognition in human and nonhuman animals alike. However, even informal exposure to human contact in human environments can enhance cognition. We review selected literature to compare animals’ behavior with objects among keas and great apes, the taxa that best allow systematic comparison of the behavior of wild animals with that of those in human environments such as homes, zoos, and rehabilitation centers. In all cases, we find that animals in human environments do much more with objects. Following and expanding on the explanations of several previous authors, we propose that living in human environments and the opportunities to observe and manipulate human-made objects help to develop motor skills, embodied cognition, and the use of objects to extend cognition in the animals. Living in a human world also furnishes the animals with more time for such activities, in that the time needed for foraging for food is reduced, and furnishes opportunities for social learning, including emulation, an attempt to achieve the goals of a model, and program-level imitation, in which the imitator reproduces the organizational structure of goal-directed actions without necessarily copying all the details. All these factors let these animals learn about the affordances of many objects and make them better able to come up with solutions to physical problems